Digital monitoring and care: Virtual medicine.

Remote digital health monitoring technologies can be synergistically organized to create a virtual medical system providing more continuous care centered on the patient rather than the bricks and mortar medical complex. Utilization of the digitalized patient health monitoring can facilitate diagnosis, treatment plans, physician-patient interaction, and accelerate the progress of medical research, education, and training. The field of cardiac electrophysiology has been an early adopter of this shift in care and serves as a paradigm applicable to all areas of medicine. The overall impact of this remote virtual care model on the quality of medical care and patient experience requires greater study, as well as vigilance as to the differences between technology and care in order to preserve the intangible and immeasurable factors that bring humanity to the art and science of medicine.

Impact of relaxation training on patient-perceived measures of anxiety, pain, and outcomes after interventional electrophysiology procedures.

BACKGROUND: Electrophysiology procedures vary in invasiveness, duration, and anesthesia utilized. While complications are low and efficacy high, cases are elective and patient experiences related to anxiety, pain, and perceived outcomes are not well studied. We sought to determine if a 30-minute audio compact disc (CD) that teaches relaxation techniques and wellness perception prior to an elective procedure impacts validated measures of anxiety, pain, and procedural outcomes. METHODS: Sixty-one patients were randomly assigned to a control group (CG) (N(CG) = 31) or interventional group (IG) (N(IG) = 30). Both groups answered a baseline Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A) survey consisting only of anxiety assessment questions. The IG listened to the CD the night prior to their procedure. Heart rate and blood pressure were monitored on admission and prior to the procedure. Postprocedure, both groups completed two HADS-A surveys as well as two Patient Experience Surveys (PES). There was no statistical difference in the demographics and the rate of procedural complications between the groups. The statistical significance of our data was determined using a Student's t-test and χ(2) test. RESULTS: At baseline, both groups had equal amounts of anxiety prior to their procedures (P = 0.2). The patients in the IG had lower systolic blood pressures during admission and prior the administration of analgesics in comparison to the CG. Postprocedure, results from administering the HADS-A demonstrated that the IG had 33% lower anxiety (P = 0.02) than CG patients. CONCLUSION: The implementation of basic relaxation teaching techniques prior to planned electrophysiology procedures lowers systolic blood pressure and postprocedural anxiety.